Against All Odds
by IniRniDefunct
Summary: This story occurs when Sakura is dumped by Sasuke and now seeks Ino. Will their renewed friendship become something more? Shoujoai, SakuIno
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Sakura walked along the streets of Konoha with her arms wrapped around Sasuke's left arm, talking about how nice it would be to have dinner tonight at one of the fancier restaurants.

Sasuke looked away, letting out a low rumbling within his chest and did a quick exhale of his breath. He looked down at Sakura, glaring.

"Get your hands off me," he said, stepping a few feet away from her as she let him go.

"I'm sick of your cheery attitude," Sasuke said. "I don't ever want to be near you again, except in missions."

Sakura's eyes widened at Sasuke words, mouthing in protest. He cut her off by continuing.

"From this point on, it's strictly comrades-relationship only. Got it?"

Sakura stared at him, her arms going weak as the feeling in her knees shook. Her breathing became shallow and got hard to get oxygen to her brain. She saw black spots appearing in her vision.

"No, please, I'm sorry! I don't want to be away from you, Sasuke! I _need_ you!" she said, walking towards him, tears brimming her eyes.

'_I will NEVER let you go, Sasuke!'_ her inner Sakura screamed, punching the air angrily. _'NEVER! You are _mine, _Sasuke. Only mine.'_

"Well, too bad, but this is the end of the road to our… _intimate_ relationship. And you know what; the whole thing was just a big lie. I pitied you so I became your boyfriend," Sasuke said, staring down at Sakura and opened his mouth.

"I never liked you in the first place."

Sakura felt her chest clenched, unable to breathe.

"Besides, I like someone else and it's not you or any of the female members here. So, good bye," he said, turning and left her there.

Sakura couldn't find any will in her legs to run after him, even when her inner Sakura was screaming at her body to move. She couldn't run.

'_No! Sasuke, come back! Damnit Sakura, go chase him! I _refuse_ to let him go!'_ she yelled.

'_But… he said he pitied me and dated me… only out of pity. There's nothing more I can stand than pity dates. Sasuke…'_ she thought, sniffling.

Her shallow breaths became shallower as the black dots in her vision became bigger and darker._ 'Ino… I'm so sorry. Our friendship ruined…'_

She fell forward, feeling something soft grabbing her as she became absorbed by the dark world.

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Sakura felt the pull of her inner Sakura into consciousness, she put a finger to her mouth to be quiet. Her body felt heavy, so she obeyed her inner thoughts, she couldn't have made any noise if she wanted.

"I found her collapsing and brought her here," someone said.

"What happened?" asked a gruff voice.

"I don't know, her cheeks were stained with tears, so she probably had a panic attack or something like that," the person replied.

"Hm, I wonder…" muttered the other person, "Well, if that is all, I'll leave you here in case she wakes up."

"Okay Asuma-sensei," the other voice replied.

"Bye, Ino," he said, closing the door.

'_Ino! Of all people, she had to catch me at my weakest moment! How dare she…'_ her inner Sakura screamed.

'_But I'm glad she found me,'_ protested Sakura.

'_Whatever,'_ she said.

"Ino…" Sakura said softly, opening her eyes.

"Sakura!" she said, running to her side of the bed. "How are you?"

"Fine, just a big headache is all," she replied.

"That happens if you cry too much," Ino said, smirking.

"Yeah…"

"What happened?" she asked, sitting down in a chair.

"…Sasuke said he only went out with me because he _pitied_ me."

"Pity boyfriend?" asked Ino, leaning forward. "How dare he, that's the lowest of the low! I'll get that bastard!"

"No, don't," Sakura said, shaking her head.

'_But I want revenge on that bastard too!'_ she yelled at Sakura.

'_Shut up, I am tired of hearing you.'_

"Ugh, if he pity dated you, then I'm sure, if given a chance, he'll do the same with me!" Ino said, crossing her arms in anger. "Did he say anything else?"

"Yeah…" she replied, "he said he didn't like any female members…"

Ino gasped, "No… can it be that he's _gay?_" she asked.

"Probably," Sakura said, shrugging one shoulder.

She looked at Ino and looked away, sighing.

"I'll never look at him the same way again," Sakura said.

"Yeah… me too."

The silence followed the conversation as the two thought about Sasuke and their friendship with each other. Sakura began regretting by becoming Ino's rival.

'_Why did I ever become an enemy of Ino?'_

Ino looked at Sakura, frowning. She sighed, looking up and stared outside.

'_I can't believe it, after all this time; it was a bad decision to stop being Sakura's friend. That she was an enemy.'_

Growling quietly to herself, _'I hate you, Sasuke,' _Ino thought.

Ino cleared her throat, standing up. "Uhm, well, do you want anything to drink?"

"I would like that," Sakura said, smiling.

Ino smiled back, nodding and turned to leave the room. She felt a light rush of blood rush to her cheeks. Confused, she touched one of her cheek with her left hand as she closed the room.

'_Huh? Why am I blushing?' _Ino asked herself as she entered the kitchen.

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Sakura looked outside and saw a bird landing on the window sill. She smiled and thought of Ino. She felt a rising temperature of blood in her cheeks and touched them with her hand, confused.

'_Why do I feel good, just thinking about my friend?'_ she wondered.

'_Well, gee, I wonder,'_ her inner Sakura said, _'maybe it's because we like Ino!'_

Sakura gasped, widening her eyes in surprise.

'_I like Ino?'_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Sakura stared at the blanket, realizing the implications of what her Inner self told her. Her heart thumped harder in her chest, making it harder for her to breathe. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She grasped her blanket and brought it to her nose and smelled it.

'…_This is her bed!' _ she thought, cuddling up in Ino's blanket and pillows.

'_I guess I do like her… how could I have been so blind?'_ she thought, smiling.

Sakura heard the opening and closing of the door and saw Ino coming in with two glasses of lemonade. Sakura flashed a grin, Ino smiled back with a confused look in her eyes.

'_Damnit, why is this happening again?' _Ino wondered, feeling a slight heat growing in her cheeks again. _'I hope she doesn't see my blush…'_

"Here," Ino said, giving her the drink.

Sakura took the drink, brushing her fingers against Ino and the two girls stopped briefly as their eyes locked at each other. Ino looked away, withdrawing her hand from Sakura when she grasped the cup. Sakura stared down at the cup, feeling another rush of blood to her face. Sakura drank the lemonade as Ino sipped hers.

'_This is _so_ uncomfortable,'_ Sakura thought.

'_Then talk to her! Admit that we like Ino!'_ her inner self screamed.

Sakura looked up at Ino and looked away.

'_I can't… this is so wrong. How can I like a girl? I've been in love with Sasuke for so long!'_

'_So? We have to get over our crushes and lovers, sometime, you know!'_ she scolded.

She sighed mentally and looked at Ino again, smiling.

"How are you doing lately?"

Ino smiled back, "I'm doing good, just that the missions can be difficult and annoying sometimes."

"Tell me about it," Sakura said and both laughed.

Sakura detected a shred of nervousness within Ino and frowned.

"Something is the matter with you, Ino. What's wrong?" asked Sakura, sipping her lemonade.

Ino's eyes widened and looked away; a deep shade of pink filled her cheeks and laughed.

"Oh no, it's nothing," she said, scratching her ear.

"Tell me," Sakura persisted.

"Even if I did, I don't know how to explain it! I don't even know why I'm nervous," Ino said, clutching both of her hands to her cup.

"Oh…" Sakura said, looking at Ino's hands holding the cup. "I see…" she said, trailing off.

"What?" Ino asked.

'_Tell her! Tell her! Tell her now!' _Inner Sakura screamed at herself.

'_But it's too soon!'_

'_Fine, I was hoping to never resort to this. I'll help you out.'_

'_What are you s—'_

"Ino," Sakura said, narrowing her eyes in determination. "I know this might be sudden and too soon after what happened."

Ino raised an eyebrow.

Sakura smiled and said, "I like you."

Ino exhaled sharply, blinking several times. She stared at her, wondering what Sakura really mean.

"Of course… you're a very likeable person too," Ino said, giving her a small smile with nervousness in her eyes.

"No, I mean it. I like you, more than a friend," Sakura said.

"Say what?" asked Ino, dropping the cup, shattering the glass and spilling the contents everywhere.

"Oh shit!" Ino yelped, getting up to leave.

Sakura grabbed her hand, halting Ino in her tracks. Sakura realized that Ino's hands were shaking and frowned.

'_Alright Sakura, I'm not going to deal with the emotional stuff, so you take over,' _she thought, returning back to normal.

'_Damn it, I hate you!' _Sakura thought, unintentionally tightening her grip on Ino, causing her to flinch.

'_I love you too, Sakura,' _the other voice replied, dripping with sarcasm as Sakura realized what she did to Ino.

"Sakura, that hurts!" Ino said, pulling away from Sakura.

'_Great job well done; on hurting Ino!' _Inner Sakura said.

Sakura growled at herself, causing Ino stare at her, quirking an eyebrow in fear. "Sakura, are you alright?"

Sakura sighed, rubbing her right temple with her hand, nodding, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Sorry that I hurt your hand."

Ino stared at her, shook her head to herself and left the room without a word. Sakura clenched her fists again, a vein in her temple throbbing, threatening to send her head into another bouts of a headache. She fell backward into the pillows with a loud thump, glaring at the ceiling.

'_I should go, I'm causing Ino grief right now,'_ she thought, knitting her eyebrows together.

'_No! We've got to stay put and see what Ino has to say!'_ the other voice yelled. _'If you try to leave, I'll take over again!'_

'_You're so mean,'_ Sakura thought, frowning.

She sighed, turning her body towards the window, away from the door, letting her lower lip jaunt out in a pout.

'_Fine,' _she thought,_ 'I'll stay put.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Ino sat down in her chair, staring at the table in front of her, her thoughts going a hundred miles an hour in her mind. Confusion built up and she clenched her fist to keep her tears back. She couldn't let her sister see that she was upset about something who is busy cleaning the dining room. The room behind her is, after all, the source of all of her confusion and teary eyes.

'_Damnit, why am I so fucking confused about this?'_ she thought and sniffled.

Her sister looked up and studied Ino. Ino glared at her who shrugged her shoulders, and resumed her task of sweeping the floor and leaving the room to the next.

Ino sighed, relaxing her hands in her lap and closed her eyes. She remembered the moment Sakura declared her, Ino, a rival.

'_I found out that you like Sasuke too. I guess that makes us rivals,'_ Sakura said, pulling the blue ribbon away.

Sakura stared at her as Sakura dropped the ribbon to the ground. A crushing feeling squeezed Ino's heart, holding back tears which Sakura did not notice. Looking at her friend, she knew the relationship between themselves would never be the same again. Sakura left, leaving Ino behind on the bench to realize what just happened. Ino, with a deep exhale, broke down, weeping for the loss of a friendship.

Her shoulders tensed and shuddered violently, clenching her fists again.

'_How am I going to face Sakura now?' _she wondered, putting her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her fist.

She looked up and stared at the reflection of the mirror and saw herself and her bedroom door. Her eyes looked red, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She sniffled again, wiping her tears away with her fingers and wiped off the wetness on the hem of her shirt.

'_Maybe I really don't like her after all,' _Ino thought, narrowing her eyes, _'She causes me too much grief as it is. Always begging for love since I have met her, no wonder why Sasuke couldn't stand her.'_

She stared at her hands, remembering the moment Sakura said that they were rivals. She frowned at the memory that occurred right after she left Ino on the bench.

Ino curled her knees up to her chest, wrapping herself with arms, shuddering at the moment that occurred between her and Sakura.

'_Where the heck did she get the idea that I like Sasuke! I don't…' _Ino thought, her arms wet with tears. _'I don't even like Sasuke. But is it true that I like that enigmatic boy? Can my friends read me that well? Why is this… hole in my heart opened up now?'_

Left to herself, she let the tears flow, hiccupping at each new wave of thought concerning Sakura.

'_What's the meaning of this?' _Ino wondered.

She looked at the mirror again, studying herself and imagined Sakura standing next to her, grinning and hanged her arm around Ino's neck. Ino jaunted out her bottom lip, wondering what to say to Sakura. She knew she had to face her sooner or later, but _how_ and _what _she was going to say to Sakura.

'_Am I going to accept her confession or not?'_ thought Ino, crossing her arms.

After a moment of pondering, she sighed and stood up. With a glance at the mirror, she turned and went to her bedroom. With a feeling of apprehension, she opened the door and found Sakura lying on the bed, facing the window. Ino closed the door behind her with a click, loud enough to announce her appearance.

Sakura sat up quick, looking at Ino, her eyes studying her face.

"I-I'm sorry, Ino," Sakura said, "I shouldn't have said that."

"You damn well shouldn't have!" Ino snapped. "How could—how dare you for messing with my mind with your—your—your confession!"

Sakura recoiled, her eyebrows arched together, tears in her right eye filled to the brim of her lids.

"You mean you don't…" Sakura trailed off, her throat constricting.

"I don't know how to deal with this, Sakura! This is too foreign for me."

Sakura looked down at her own hands, feeling dejected. Her eyes became dark, shadows cast by the waning sun. Ino stared at her, feeling a deep hole in her chest cavity opening up. She felt her body falling through the hole, gravity dropped and grew dark. Ino blinked, realizing the implications of what went missing since the moment Sakura declared her a rival. Her chest became constricted, as though a snake was coiled around her, ready to swallow Ino up whole.

Ino fell to her knees, arms on the bed and grabbed Sakura's hand. Her face covered by her own hair, Ino's voice grew squeaky when she spoke.

"I—I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been harsh with my words," she said, her breath shuddering.

She looked up at Sakura, her cheeks stained with fresh tears.

"I like you too, Sakura. I thought it was because I liked Sasuke in the first place. I don't know where you got the idea that I even liked him when you found out," Ino said, her voice growing stronger.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"All this time, since you declared us rivals," she paused, staring at her hands, "deep down, I always wondered who told you a false fact that I liked Sasuke," she said. "Because of that, I got angry because I didn't know how to clear up that misunderstanding. We were young, after all… and from then on… to make you jealous, I pretended to like him. Then through that, I grew to like him. I even thought I _did_ like him because someone read my actions as such…"

She sighed, shaking her head, "how come I had forgotten the reason why I liked Sasuke, after all this time… I was foolish to think that you could ever like me."

Sakura cupped her face with her hands, making Ino look up and stare into her green eyes. She saw that Sakura was spilling tears down her cheeks. Her demeanor changed and her face hardened.

"We'll take revenge on those girls who split us up," Sakura said.

Ino's face paled at her words, "You mean, they did that just so we would be rivals?" she asked.

"Yeah… I realized that now. It makes perfect sense." Sakura said.

"Well then, in that case," Ino said then smirked, "we'll take revenge on those who broke our friendship.

Sakura smiled at her, leaning her and kissed Ino on the lips. Ino fell backwards, staring at Sakura with wide eyes, her left arm covering her mouth. Sakura frowned at Ino, shrinking back from her, opening her mouth to speak and the other interrupted.

"Er, I don't mean—I mean, that was… you took me by surprise," Ino stammered, "that was my first kiss."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Ino stared at Sakura, covering her mouth with her arm, and she closed her eyes. She held her knees together as Ino scootched away from Sakura and stood up. She sighed and opened her eyes, Ino turned around, facing the door. She took a few deep breaths. She opened her mouth and closed a few times, mimicking a fish.

'_Open that damn mouth of yours and talk to her, damnit!' _Ino thought.

"I—I'm sorry for acting like this, Sakura," she murmured.

'_No, no, no, turn around and go back!'_

Her feet betrayed her thoughts, continuing towards the door. Ino paused trying to listen to her thoughts and instead opened. Ino stopped briefly, her face turned to the side, wanting to say something else. She sighed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

She took deep breaths, leaning against the door and putting her arm down. She stared at the floorboards she was standing on; feeling the weakness in her joints, she slid down the door against her back and curled up into a ball. Wrapping her leg with her arms, she closed her eyes as she let her thoughts drift.

'_What... in the world just happened there? How could she just kiss me like that! Without permission too,' _she thought, clenching her fist.

'_But, aren't the best kisses occur when you don't ask for permission and just steal it from another?' _ Ino pondered and shook her head. _'Wait a minute, she stole _my_ kiss! A kiss reserved for a guy!' _

She looked at her feet and shook her head to rid of the thoughts.

'_But that doesn't make sense, wouldn't I be happier by being with her? It _was_ a nice kiss, even if it was short and brief,' _she thought, raising her fingers to her lips.

'_I thought there were sparks… I could have sworn there was something in that kiss,'_ Ino thought, running her fingers over her top lip. _'This deep… attraction, maybe I do have something in my heart for Sakura.'_

Ino unclenched her fist and let her arm drape off her legs as she exhaled.

'_What will I do with myself?'_

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Sakura stared at the door being closed, a stone fell on top of her heart, crushing, squeezing her lungs. She swallowed the thick lump in her throat that was building up, doing her best not to let the tears spill. Even her inner self was silent. The actions Ino made, even her apologies did not ease her pain she was feeling in her soul.

'_Am I fated… to never have my feelings returned?'_ she wondered, biting her bottom lip.

Her tears swelled at the corner of her eyes.

'_Can I handle two different hearts whom never return their feelings for me? How can I have been so damned blind all those years? Ino was right under my nose!'_

She looked outside and saw stars appearing in the sky. Sakura sighed, looking away, wondering if her parents were worried.

Sakura blinked, realizing just how much more complicated the situation had become.

'_How will my parents view this relationship? If there is one… Naruto's heart would be trampled, knowing him and his crush on me. The Konoha village itself! Will they be accepting of people who share same gender relationships?' _she thought, biting her lower lip harder and tasted a tinge of blood.

'_I can't just ask those questions _now, _if Ino wouldn't even return her feelings, even though she did somewhat confess that she did.'_

She buried her face into the pillows, frustrated with the fact that she was left to her own devices, not knowing what Ino would say. Much less, accepted and profess her feelings to Sakura. She waited for Ino to come back in the room with whatever she decided on.

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Ino nodded to herself, stood up, turned around and rested her hands on the door knob, hesitating.

'_C'mon, you can do this Ino, surely, she'll accept it since she did say…'_ she thought, preparing herself for reentry into the room.

She turned the knob, pushed it open and saw Sakura's face buried in the pillow. Ino stopped mid-step, wondering what words to use. With a lack of words, she cleared her throat, causing Sakura to sit up quick and stared at her with wide eyes. Ino studied her and saw a hint of hope within her eyes.

"You know… what," she said, approaching Sakura.

She felt her mouth growing dry and wished for a glass of water and stared at the mess she made on the floor.

"What?" asked Sakura, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ino's mouth nervously grew bigger, "I'm glad my first kiss was you," she said, "sorry for reacting like that."

Sakura relaxed her posture, smiling back at her and her eyes casted down onto the mess Ino made.

"I'm so glad, I was… _really _worried," said Sakura, sighing.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" Sakura asked, grinning.

"I don't know, you said something about getting back at those girls."

"Yeah… we'll just them into the Konoha hospital," Sakura said, smirking.

"Hee, hee," Ino giggled and sat at the edge of her bed.

"Hey, since it's late and nearly time to sleep, come under the covers," Sakura suggested. "We haven't done that in years."

"Okay!" exclaimed Ino, climbing under the covers and cuddled next to Sakura.

"Um, after you turn off the lights and the mess is cleaned up…" Sakura said after an awkward silence.

"Hah, I forgot about that," Ino said, sitting up and got out. "Oh whoopsies, I forgot to take off my shoes too."

"That's good, you would have cut your feet if you didn't," Sakura said, climbing out of bed.

"No, you stay put, you don't have your shoes on," Ino said, pulling the covers over Sakura.

Sakura pouted and sat back into her pillows, crossing her arms. While she watched Ino cleaned up the mess, her inner self was crying out in victory.

'_Yeah! We have our Ino, we'll keep her happy, no matter what!'_ she yelled, continuously punching her fists in the air. Sakura smiled to herself, tightening her fist to prevent from punching the air too.

Once Ino finished her task, she took her shoes off, turned the lights off and crept into the bed.

"One last thing, Sakura, you should call your parents that you're spending the night here," she said.

"Oh, they won't mind, so long I call them in the morning," Sakura said, not wanting to call them right now.

"If you say so," Ino said, pulling the covers back.

Sakura wrapped her right arm over Ino, laying on her stomach and exhaled a breath with content.

"Good night, Ino," she murmured.

"'Night Sakura," she returned the greetings.

_fin_


End file.
